


Baby Blues

by BurntSushiRoll



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Attempt at Humor, Brotherly Love, Family Shenanigans, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I can't tell with my own writing, Light Angst, Or maybe it's really angsty, Turtle Tots (TMNT), hey what a cute tag, the first half is fun, the second half is also fun just not as much fun, well just one turtle tot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25028866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntSushiRoll/pseuds/BurntSushiRoll
Summary: It seems like no matter how hard the boys try, trouble always finds them.Apparently, going to a yokai festival is no exception. Sure, they probably should have seen this coming; if trouble always finds them, then going to the Hidden City is just wearing a giant neon sign plastered to their backs saying "Hey! Right here!" But they had tried so hard this time not to screw this up. They even listened to Splinter's orders about sticking together.Well, for the most part. But everyone was fine in the end. Leo's fine!Except for the fact that he's five years old.
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT)
Comments: 55
Kudos: 246





	Baby Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god this took longer than I had expected. I blame my busy schedule and the perfectionist in me.
> 
> Anyways, I love the turtle tots, and I am honestly SO shocked that I haven't seen any fics about one of the brothers accidentally turning into a toddler. It's possible I might have missed one somewhere. However, I hope this fixes anyone's craving, as while you don't really see him in this chapter, there's gonna be so much baby Leo it's insane. (I can't help it, I'm partial to the blue one)
> 
> Hope you like it!

The hustle and bustle of the many yokai trapezing about the fair grounds fills the warm air like a weighted blanket. Laughter from children and filtered conversation rumble through the air. Vendors of all shapes and sizes, and of all backgrounds, ruthlessly advertise amongst the heavy crowd, selling food and drinks and mystic concoctions that bubble and ooze from their containers. Crystals and stones lined across tabletops shine and glimmer in the light from festive lanterns floating in the evening air; obscure objects are also being offered, ranging from monstrous skulls and large claws to screaming, tiny plants on display to intrigue the wandering eyes of interested attendees. Carnival games, that are almost always rigged but are played regardless, interlace the vendors, offering a moment of escape from the grabby voices of sellers. While some attractions are similar to most human equivalents the turtles have seen before at New York’s festivals, there are a few that hide a more sinister nature, if the one booth with cryptic contracts was any indication. 

The Hidden City’s Grand Festival is certainly a sight to behold. Yokai from all over the entire globe venture to the Hidden City, regardless of whether it costed them an arm or a leg (sometimes literally), just to gather for the weekly run. As the only festival put on in the underground city, it’s a once in a lifetime chance for some yokai to make a living; it’s also a rare opportunity for a sense of normality in some yokai’s case. Most sell what they have crafted from long hours of hard labor, while others are left to scrounge off their family’s heirlooms. 

It certainly helps that several big name contributors sponsor the festival, attracting attendees of all various styles of livelihoods. Even Big Mama has her webs cast in the inner makings of this festival, raking in the loads of money that not even her own hotel and Battle Nexus could ever dream of achieving.

And Leo is loving every second of it.

It reminds him a lot of the Pirate Harbor where he shortly visited on his search for his missing brothers. From shady individuals to outright mob-looking scoundrels, most who attend seem to be hiding some ulterior motive. But if Leo was being honest, that just adds a bit more fun to the whole festival; an unpredictable night to look forward to.

But that made it all the harder to convince Splinter to let them go. It’s the one chance they get to finally be a little normal and not having to hide their true selves, dressing in ridiculous outfits just to blend in. Regardless of the unpredictable (and dangerous, their father reminded) nature Hidden City has to offer, none of them wanted to miss the chance of engaging in a festival like most normal citizens of New York get to. 

And eventually they did convince him. Leo’s not too sure just how Raph managed to achieve an impossible feat such as convincing their father that going to a freaky, yokai festival being run with dirty money from Big Mama was a good way to spend a Tuesday evening, but it was definitely not easy. Even with Donnie’s statistics and reassurances that “yes, he was about 85% positive that Big Mama wouldn’t actually be attending the festival, and that yes his sources are very reliable, thank you very much” and Leo’s constant whining, their father had remained unwavering. Leo has the sneaking suspicion that Raph resorted to using Mikey’s puppy-dog eyes. Mikey doesn’t use his secret weapon very often, preferring to save it as its effectiveness has worn off the older he gets. And if Leo knows anything about Mikey, it’s that Raph is definitely stuck in his favor.

So here they are, on the outskirts of the festival before the giant archway that hangs before them, the turtle brothers vibrating with excitement. Plenty of smells waft through the air the closer they get and the squeals of thrill tempt the brothers as they wait in line for their wrists to be stamped. 

“I might have forgotten to mention that there were strings attached to our whole night out thing.”

And just like that, the excitement is killed, popping like a bursting balloon. Leo leans his head back and groans in a very high-pitched and child-like fashion. The young yokai, whose appearance is strikingly similar to that of a Golden Retriever, holds his wrist to stamp as she scowls tiredly at him for the disturbing noise.

“Oh, come on! You’re totally gonna ruin tonight’s mojo. How are we supposed to enjoy a yokai festival if there are rules attached,” Leo complains, walking through the archway and swinging his arm dramatically gesturing to the nearest booths, one who happens to be auctioning off what appears to be a purple furby that knows the universe’s true secrets and another attempting to shove a small bat-like yokai into a cauldron. “I mean look at this place! This just screams ‘no rules’.”

Running up to join his brothers after his own wrist gets stamped, the youngest slings an arm around Leo’s shoulders.

“Exactly! Leo’s right. I didn’t use my secret weapon, Raphael, if we were just gonna end up not being able to enjoy the festival anyways,” Mikey adds, his tone miffed. Huffing and puffing his cheeks out, Mikey puts a hand on his hip as he continues. “You know my puppy-dog eyes only work so often.”

Raph moves his hands up in a placating manner, being on the receiving end of both his youngest brothers' upset glares.

“Hold on, guys, I haven’t even gotten to say what the rules were yet. Trust me, they’re not that bad. Besides, even with your ‘secret weapon’ Mikey, it was still a tough battle to be fought,” Raph clears his throat, authoritatively, and crosses his arms. “And if we want to come any other night before the festival ends this Thursday, it’s best if we stick to them.”

Leo and Mikey both groan miserably, but they wait nevertheless for Raph to continue.

Holding up one finger, Raph explains, “First rule, no fighting villains of any kind. We know that Big Mama has her hands in how things are run here, so we have to be diligent.”-holding up his second finger-”Second rule, no splitting up. If we want to enjoy this festival, we have to do it together,”-holding up his final finger he concludes with- “And lastly, we have to be back home by 9.”

“What?!” Leo and Mikey exclaimed unanimously, sharing outraged faces.

Leo, falling to his knees, and with both hands grasping the sides of his head, wails to the sky, “But that only leaves us 3 hours?! How are we supposed to have fun with such little time!”

Mikey, closing his hand around Leo's shoulder, who groans miserably at the dirt path, clenches his other raised fist, “Yeah! That’s not fair. I’m never helping you again with these-” he says as he points to his eyes, adding menacingly as he whispers, “Never.”

Raph sighs heavily, shifting his gaze to the sky in exasperation.

“I get it, alright? This is the one festival where we can be ourselves and not worry about our whole situation being found out. But we have to obey Splinter’s rules!” Raph states. Straightening his posture, he stands defiant before his brothers. This is one thing he can't back down on, no matter how hard his brothers whine.

Not that they won't try. Mikey continues to glower adamantly at Raph, unwilling to break the stare-down.

"Besides, there're still two nights left after today. I'm positive that if we follow good on Dad's rules, he'll let us come back again."

Mikey's face crumbles slightly, until he decides that he'd rather stifle some enjoyment tonight if it meant he could come back, and he mumbles in defeat, “I wanna come back.”

Raph smiles. “Good! Now that we're all on the same page, why don’t we-.”

“Woah, hold on. There’s just one problem.” Leo interrupts, lifting himself up from the ground, looking side to side as he does. “Where’s Donnie?”

Stunned silence fills the air, the brothers staring at one another, the gravity of the situation not having been processed completely. Raph's confused at first, but Leo can see the gears starting to work in his brother's head. When it hits him, Raph’s face morphs into a hideous expression of vexation. 

“Donnie!”

A sharp "ow" near Raph startles him, the unexpected noise causing him to let out a short yelp.

“Yeah, right here. And again, ow! Is it really necessary to yell when I’m literally only a foot away?” Donnie complains, rubbing a hand against his abused head, appearing behind Raph as if he was there the entire time.

“Wha-where did you go?!” Raph exclaimed, surprise written clear across his face, pointing an accusatory finger at his brother’s face. Donnie shoves the finger out of his face with the back of his hand, folds his arms behind his back, looking to the side and avoiding the gazes of his brothers.

“Oh, nowhere really. That’s not important. What’s important right now is that we, gentlemen, have a festival to get to. Time is of the essence. Chop, chop!” 

“Oh yeah? Then what’s it that you’re hiding, huh?” Leo takes a slow step forward, imitating a predator who has caught its unsuspecting prey in a corner. His brother has never been one to hide things. Donnie has always been very proud, especially vocally about it, of not only his inventions, but any of his possessions, preferably taunting them in front of his brothers. 

To be hiding one now, Leo can't resist. Besides, brothers don't hide secrets.

“What? Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little something that caught my interest, is all,” Donnie replies nervously, taking a step back. Leo can clearly see the sweat that forms on his brother's temple, but all it does is fuel Leo's desire to know what it is. 

“Well. If it’s nothing, then why are you hiding it?” Another step forward.

“Because, you know…" Donnie looks warily over his shoulder, almost as if he was looking for an escape route. "You know?” Another step backward.

“No, I don’t know,” Leo smirks. 

“But I’m about to find out.”

Leaping through the air, Leo tackles his brother to the ground. They start to wrestle, showering up dirt as Donnie's insistent cussing and Leo's laughter attracts the disgruntled, nearby yokai, until Leo manages to gain the upper-hand, pinning Donnie on his belly and snatching his secret from his hands. He holds it above his head he shouts a declare of victory, noticing the large, void-like eyes, the bright purple fur and he realizes-

“...You bought the furby?”

Raph and Mikey combust into laughter, taking no part in the twin’s wrestling match but all too happy to watch the aftermath.

Donnie rolling in Leo’s distracted hold and kicking him square in the stomach, he sends his brother careening to the ground as he desperately grabs back his prized possession.

“Maybe! I couldn’t help myself,” Donnie replies as he hugs the furby close to his body. “I mean, c’mon, I've always wanted one. Besides, he’s the perfect shade of purple!”

Donnie holds up the furby for closer inspection, gazing at it with a look very similar to one Raph gives to critters he finds unbearably cute. Leo absentmindedly rubs at his stomach, the kick being harder than he had expected. He’ll never understand Donnie’s fascination with purple. Sure, they all have an affinity towards their own respective colors, but Donnie always takes it to another level, obsessing over jackets and costumes alike. But Donnie’s face is cracked with an enormous smile, so no one really has the heart to make fun of him.

They don't question how he got it either; Leo knows fully well that when Donnie has his mind on getting something, he gets it. 

“Okay, okay, enough,” Raph says through his stifled laughter, effortlessly heaving Leo up to his feet by his bicep. “Can we finally get back on track? Donnie, since you weren’t here, I’ll go over the rules again-”

“Oh, there’s no need. Let me guess, ‘No fighting, no splitting up, be back by 9’?” Donnie confidently repeats. 

“Uh, yeah actually. Is Dad really that predictable?” 

“Considering those are the only rules he has ever given, like, ever? Then yes.”

“Guys, can we get going now? Enough talking, more festivalling!”

Donnie scoffs slightly, putting a hand to his chest.

"Mikey, you know how I feel about improper gra-"

Before Donnie can bore his brothers with grammatical semantics, Mikey takes his brothers by the arms, dragging them away from the entrance so that their night can actually begin. 

If human festivals were to be compared to the Grand Festival, then it would be like comparing instant ramen to the home cooked ramen Splinter would on rare occasions prepare. The choices almost immediately overwhelm the turtles. From the left to the right, every stand has something new to offer. 

Mikey’s eyes are gravitated towards a peculiar, but also familiar, sight of what looks like an imitation of bobbing for apples. Mikey runs up to the wooden pool with no warning, his brothers close behind, as the reptilian yokai running the stand shouts, "Bobbin' for Zum Zums! Magic powers! Bobbin' for Zum Zums! Magic powers!" It’s definitely not apples, as far as Mikey can tell, but the objects in the water look vaguely fruit-shaped.

"Ya wanna take a try, kiddo?" The vendor addresses, a heavy accent peeking out from huge snaggle teeth. "Get five minutes to try an' snag one o' those Zum Zums here!"

"Wow!" Mikey hollers as he peers into the pool, eyeing the shimmering and mystical fruit; some really smooth looking and others very sharp and pointy. "What's the prize, mister?"

The vendor gives a great laugh, long claws resting on his hips.

"It's a Zum Zum, kid. Never heard of them?" He holds up his hand, displaying a set of seven fingers. "Ya get seven whole minutes of the Zum Zums power."

"Oh!" Mikey says excitedly, then his face contorts into confusion. "Powers?"

"Yes! They can range from growing a long, amphibious tongue to having the strength of a hundred gargoyles!" He leans forward. "Wanna have a go?"

Mikey nods his head at thirty miles an hour. "You bet!"

A hand grasps Mikey's shoulder. 

"Hang on just a sec."

Mikey is spun around to face his oldest brother's disapproving gaze.

"Don't you think this a lil', I don't know, sus Mikey?" Raph stares at the one fruit that looks like its baring teeth.

"But magic powers!"

Raph’s shoulders sink, and his eyebrows thin out into a straight line.

"Mikey, we already have mystic powers, remember?”

“But these are different! I could grow a large tongue, “Mikey holds his hands up to his face, eyes shining in a dreamy manner.

Leo joins them, leaning forward to peer into the pool, with Donnie beside him with his goggles resting on his eyes and examining the fruit.

“No way. There are better things to do here, Mikey, than powers that only last a short amount of time,” Leo looks around. “Like over there! That guy is selling some sunglasses,” he narrows his eyes to better see from the distance, “really, really big sunglasses.”

He looks away from Donnie, who's still focused on the fruit, as he mutters beneath his breath.

“Besides, it’s better than a furby.”

At that, his offended brother elbows him sharply in the side, Leo squawks at the jab, holding his already abused stomach as he’s bent over. Ignoring the painful gripes of his brother, Donnie pulls his goggles off his eyes, giving an unsatisfied hum. 

“Anyway, what Leo was trying to say was that we should totally go check out that stand over there,” Donnie points to a booth selling old vhs tapes. “Who knows what gems we might find.”

“Dude, what is with you lately? You’ve never even been alive during the 90’s, why are you acting like Dad when he sees a walkman?” Raph points, irritation now present in his voice.

“I’ve just been really interested in older, more barbaric forms of technology. Makes me feel better when I go through a tech block.”

“Ok, we are not wasting our time on something we can find hidden in Pops’ room,” Raph interrupts. “We can’t stand here all night and argue.”

“What do we do then, oh fearless leader?”

Raph takes a minute to think, hand to his chin; he grabs Mikey by his shell as he tries to sneak off to the bobbing stand.

“Well, we can’t separate to enjoy the stands we want to, and we only have until nine, so that leaves us about three hours,” after a long second, Raph slams his fist on his open palm, an idea at the ready.

“I got it! How about we walk around first and find stalls we’d like to see, and then after we’ve seen everything, we head back around and do the ones we wanna do!”

Everyone else stops to think about, a solid sounding plan.

“Ok, but have you seen this place? It’s huge. It’d take us at least a couple of hours to just survey the whole place,” Donnie adds.

“Then we keep it simple,” Raph nods. “We’ll stay close to the entrance. That way we can leave early if we need to, and there’s still a ton to see here.”

Not happy with their new limitations, the boys utter their agreements.

“Besides, we have two nights left of the festival; we can explore the other parts later.”

“Alright. Since we’re already here, Mikey’ll get to go bobbing for the, uh, Chum Chums or whatever, and then we’ll head out to the other stalls.”

Mikey pumps his arm into the air.

“Woohoo! Frog tongue, here I come, baby!”

* * *

Raph’s plan works for the most part. After carrying a crying Mikey, upset that he did not, in fact, get the tongue that he's always wanted and is now stuck with feathery arms for the remaining seven minutes (“What did you expect, Mikey? The whole point of the game is that you don’t know what powers you’re getting.”), the brothers proceed to map out, with the help of Donnie's tech, the places of most interest. With those places in mind, they spend a better part of their festival experience wandering about the first few isles, trying the many foods and drinks and other wonderful yokai treats offered while they make their way to each stand one of them has marked on the map. Perhaps it’s because a lot of shady people are investing in this festival, but they are careful to avoid any “suspicious” activity.

Donnie's first stop is the VHS stand he had pointed out earlier. Unfortunately for everyone else, it just so happens to be oddly enough very popular, a huge line garnishing the front and nearly blocking the traffic of people. Donnie theorizes that the popularity has something to do with the yokai’s fascination with humans. Despite the grudge most yokai bare towards humankind, they can’t help but feel awed by the weird trinkets humans have made without the aid of mystic abilities.

And because of the large crowd, it takes a decent chunk of their limited time to just make it to the front. Donnie doesn’t get to be there for very long, pressured by his brothers to hurry and pick one already.

The next stop is one of Raph’s choices; a generic game of throwing darts at pinned balloons. But the giant stuffed bears offered as prizes for winning are the only explanation needed for why he chose this attraction.

As the night goes on, their time limit is reaching an end with not even an hour left to explore. Hard pressed on time, they find themselves in a tough predicament on which attractions to visit.

Which leads to some minor arguments.

“No! We are going to the fishing game!”

“Ha! No way, Miguel, that’s just some basic carnival game. We are definitely checking out that crystal stand. If I can see if any of those bad boys have mystic readings, then we have to take one home!”

“You guys have both gotten the most to do here! I’ve barely gotten to choose the stands I wanted to see; so we’re going to the high striker!” Raph argues, clutching a giant pink teddy under his arm.

“In your dreams!”

In the midst of his brother’s argument, Leo slowly distances himself, kneeling down near a fried food stand. Balancing on the balls of his feet, he rests his elbows on his knees and his cheek in his palm, watching with a bored expression as a group of young yokai, around the same age as them, pass by him with obnoxious giggling. In the background, he can still roughly make out Raph and Mikey arguing about goldfish, and that the last time they got involved with one, they had almost been washed away down New York’s abysmal sewer system.

He hasn't gotten a chance to visit one of his stalls yet.

His brothers are far too heated and engrossed in their dispute to not only miss Leo not partaking in the fight, but to also overlook the fact that Leo hasn’t gotten the chance to see one of his attractions yet.

Or maybe they knew and just didn’t care to bring it up.

Shaking his head viciously, like a wet dog after a bath, Leo slaps his hands to his cheeks, leaving red hand prints that match his stripes.

He can’t be too upset with his brothers. He hasn’t bothered to bring it up after all, and he knows how they get when they have to share anything. Leo is not innocent, either. There are numerous times Leo himself has resorted to drastic measures just so that he wouldn’t have to share.

And he could tell them now. They still have plenty of time left to at least visit the slushy stand he saw earlier that had a new blue flavor he wanted to try, regardless of whatever flavor it was. And even more importantly, there had also been that one hippie yokai selling onesies that he so badly wanted; especially the shark one. If he just tells them, they would already be on their way.

Or he could also skip that and go on his own.

Peering over to his brothers, they have evolved from a simple argument to now wrestling on the ground, with Mikey being the predominant winner if the feral bite marks are anything to go by. In the state they are currently stuck in, Leo knows from personal experience that he has roughly about seven to eight minutes before they eventually calm down.

That’ll give him plenty of time to buy a slushy, grab himself that perfect, shark onesie, and be back here before they can even say “Mutant Teenage Turtle Ninjas”.

Grasping the odachi equipped to his shell, brought just in case and giving his usual smirk, Leo creates a blue, shimmering portal, giving his brothers one last look before jumping through. 

The other side of the portal deposits him directly in front of the “Sea Side Slush Stand” where Leo helps himself to the largest size of slushie they offer, sighing a content, “Aw, the taste of success,” after he takes a long sip.

With his purchased slushie, Leo makes his way to the onesie stand.

Perusing by the vendors, Leo absentmindedly remembers having seen most of these stands already, so he knows his brothers aren’t too far from him, just on the other side of this street. With his slushie almost already half consumed, and the edges of his brain beginning to feel the aftereffects of downing a cold drink way too fast, Leo struts by the sunglass stand he saw, an old, very human lady, a talking statue handing out pamphlets about- 

Wait.

Pausing, Leo turns around just to check that his eyes are not, in fact, playing tricks on him.

No. That, that is definitely an old lady.

The juxtaposition of the scene in front before him is so mind-boggling that Leo can’t help but stare.

From the ongoing crowd, no one else seems to notice her. Yokai pass her by without a single look, ignorant to the obvious human invading in on their festival. Either in the short amount of time Leo has been here yokai have suddenly accepted humans or he’s tripping something serious.

Looking down at his drink Leo thinks, What did they put in this slushy?

“Are you okay, young man?”

The sudden, new voice causes Leo to harshly jump, dropping his unfinished drink with a thick splat onto the dirt, the fluid already sinking into the dirt.

She’s in front of him, all of a sudden. He hadn’t even seen her move, and he strongly doubts an elderly woman would have been fast enough to move from a couple yards away in a chair to in his personal space in the span of a second.

She has to be a yokai, but from what Leo can see she has no concealing brooch like the one he has seen Big Mama and Sunita use.

“Oh, my. I had no intention to startle you,” she says, voice soft despite how it crackles against worn windpipes. She bends down, delicately for her age, and picks up Leo’s empty cup. “Would you be interested in a fortune telling, my dear?”

She hands him the cup, which he takes back with a humble, “Thank you.” 

She smiles gently at him, her expression warm and open. She doesn’t fit in with this crowd, a mix of youngsters looking for a good time and mischievous yokai looking for ways to take advantage of one another. If Leo didn’t know any better, he might have felt concern for the older lady. While Leo is almost certain that she has to be a yokai, her demeanor feels naturally kind and innocent that Leo has the urge to take her away from here. But Leo does know better, and so he politely declines her offer.

“Uhhhh, no thank you . . .” Leo hesitates. “I’m actually very tight on time, so I uh, have no time.”

The old lady’s face falls, and she tucks her chin down, like a child who was just told they couldn’t spend the night at their friend’s house. 

“Well, if you insist,” she pathetically says, and it’s hard to tell whether the crack in her voice was from her age or saddened disappointment. “I wouldn’t want to keep a busy, young man like yourself from his important business. Have a good night then, my dear.”

She makes her way back to her table, lowering herself slowly to her chair, continuing to be ignored by the ongoing crowd. Tapping his foot irritatedly, Leo feels guilt slowly beginning to creep up for making an old lady upset. Whether or not she’s a yokai, she is still very much an older lady, and one of the few lessons Leo has taken to heart from Splinter was to always be kind to his elders.

His decision final, Leo joins her at the front of the table.

“Actually, I just remembered that my time has been freed up, lucky me, so how about that fortune reading, hm?”

She stares at him for a while, Leo feeling very self-conscious about whether he made the right choice or somehow offended her, but he relaxes when she smiles widely at him, gesturing with her hand to the seat near Leo, directly across where she sits.

Leaning to the side of her chair and she rummages through her old sack before pulling out a wooden box, setting it on the table. Clicking open the snatch, the box lets out a spine-rattling groan, and Leo winces at the noise grating his ears and sending chills down his spine. She reveals a cloth, bundled up and jingling as she lays it onto the surface. Unwrapping it and using the cloth as a mat, Leo watches as she works to take count of her items. Included are several smooth, river rocks of varying sizes that have japanese characters inscribed on each, an antler with few points, colored marbles, a jade yin yang crystal, and thin slivers of paper.

Intrigued by the wide assortment of items, Leo leans forward to get a better view as the old lady shifts her items into a certain order, placing her antler closest to Leo, her rocks, some thin and flat while others more round and small, keeping towards the center, and finally shifting her jade crystal to the bottom right of the mat. 

When she removes her box back to her sack, the old lady looks up at Leo, crinkling her eyes and straightening her posture.

"If I may start by asking; what is your name, dear?"

Leo is no idiot, contrary to what some may believe, and he knows better than to give out information to someone he doesn't know; elderly or not there's still plenty of villains out there that would be willing to find personal information on the turtles, one just so happening to be involved at this very festival. But, he sees no harm in only telling her his name, as long as it doesn’t venture further than that.

So he leaves it simple, stating only, "Leo."

Tilting her head slightly, she hums to herself as if deep in thought. 

"Ah, that's a fine name," she states before focusing once again to her rocks, picking up one of the marbles she left on the side. "You may call me Baba, if you wish."

Leo is familiar with his father’s native tongue, so the name strikes him as very on the nose. Not wanting to seem rude, he doesn’t bother bringing it up, and instead leans back in his chair and throws his arms around the back in an attempt to appear nonchalant as he says, “Alrighty then, Baba, show me whatcha got!”

Picking up one of the marbles, a sunny yellow, the old lady jiggles it in her thin palm before tossing the rock onto the mat, hitting the side of a round, black river rock. It bounces off and rolls to a stop close to a flat, gray rock. As if in pondering thought, the old lady hums again before picking up another marble; this one clear. She does this several times, throwing the marbles at seemingly random towards the mat, and as she does this takes notes on her pieces of paper, writing down characters correlating to the stones the marbles touch. To Leo’s understanding, while it looks similar to what Splinter has shown them to be japanese words, not even upside down can Leo make out what any of them say.

Baba, once she is finished her writing, presses the thin paper between her fingertips and looks it over.

“Your favorite color is blue.”

Leo’s eye twitches, and he has to grit his teeth to keep from saying something he might regret. If he hadn’t known this was gonna be a waste of his time, he wouldn’t have bothered trying to humor her. He could have been buying that shark onesie, by now, and flaunting to his jealous brothers.

Feigning interest, he answers, “Yep, it sure is.”

“Ah, Baba is not done. I must start little by little, that is how my fortune works.”

Continuing, she takes the antler and moves it to the side, making room for her rocks, forming a large circle with them. Rolling another marble in her hand, this one a deep violet, she flings it at the circle, noting how the rocks react and fling in different directions. Again, she writes down the characters.

“Ah, I see. So you have brothers?”

Okay, that is something she can’t tell from just looking at him. But most people have siblings, so it’s just a lucky guess.

A very, lucky, on the nose, guess.

A maroon marble is flung, colliding with the largest river rock.

“Ah, you have three to be exact. You are the second youngest, is that correct?”

Leo’s bottom jaw might have landed on the floor was his body not tense with a mix of shock and surprise. Slamming his hands on the table, Leo shouts excitedly, “Y-yes, actually! Wow, that’s amazing. You can really tell all that from a bunch of rocks?”

She giggles an old lady giggle at the compliment, placing her withered hand above her mouth to stifle her laughter.

“Thank you, and yes. I have been practicing this form of fortune telling for a long time now. But I’m not done.”

Back to her stones, she takes the stones that were flung away the furthest and deposits them to the side. With the remaining few, she forms another, tighter circle.

As Baba flings a marble, it ricochets off a stone and directly into the antler, which had been placed off the mat.

She hums disapproving, rubbing her hand against her chin. Whatever she knew, it wasn’t pleasant.

"You are upset by something."

"Huh?"

Another ding, a marble skitters across the table. The character she reads only adds to her frown.

"You have been upset for a long while, it seems. Whatever troubles you, it has been plaguing your mind since you have been very little."

Okay, not something he had wanted to hear. With her more accurate predictions, Leo doesn’t want to hear what else she has to say, fearful that whatever his fortune may be, it will only spell bad luck for his future. But Leo would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. 

"What does that mean?" Leo asks her in a soft-spoken voice, gulping past the knot growing in his throat. He also tries to ignore the sweat coating his hands, slippery as they grasp tightly at his knees.

"I do not know."

Taking a marble, this one pure black, she balances it in her weathered palm. When Leo doesn't say anything else, she rolls it onto the mat, watching it rapidly move from stone to stone.

Leo watches with growing anticipation, the dings from the rocks against each other grating on his irritated skin. It’s mesmerizing, oddly enough. He might have no idea what is exactly happening, but the old lady performs with an air of familiarity. The manner in which she flicks the marbles around, reading the characters and writing them down, tells Leo that she has indeed practiced this for many years. This is not like any fortune reading he’s seen before. New York has plenty of sideshows plaguing the streets, and not to mention that phase Mikey had gone through wear he did nothing but tarot card readings. 

“My dear, this does not bode well.” The old lady finally says, breaking Leo’s concentration.

“Uhhhh, what’s that supposed to mean?” He didn’t expect this turn of events. All he had wanted was some time away, and a shark onesie. “ I mean they’re plenty of things that don’t bode well for me. For starters, I’m almost positive that right now, Raph has noticed that I ran off when I knew I wasn’t supposed to. Not to mention-”

He halts when the old lady lets out a sigh.

“No, my dear. This has something to do with you. On the inside. I fear for yourself.”

Leo drags out a long “okay”, his usual quick-witted responses having been completely dried up. He does not like the sound of that. He figures that it’s probably better than most outcomes of fortune telling; he could have been told that he only had three months to live or something close to that. But that his bad reading Baba is getting is something on the inside? His misfortune is him?

Is there something wrong with him?

No, that can’t be right. There’s no way that’s possible. Leo has been working so hard ever since forever ago to better himself. 

Ever since he was a child he knew he was lagging behind his brothers. Mikey found himself in art, Donnie his tech, and Raph his strength and leadership. And Leo was nothing then. And what if his family had trouble showing any faith in his abilities that he thought he had fine-tuned so tirelessly. Raph had said he trusted him. He’s reliable. He’s a good brother. He’s not nothing without his brothers.

But she had said that whatever was inside him had been there since he was young. Maybe he hadn’t grown afterall. If his brothers had truly trusted him, then there should never have been an inkling of doubt from the beginning.

As if sensing his growing dread and worry, Baba places a comforting palm to his shoulder, leaning across the table. Before she can open her mouth to offer words of encouragement, Leo forces from his dry mouth a quick excuse.

“Actually, I lied, I am on a bit of a tight schedule. So how about I bounce and I leave you to your voodoo-joodoo, okay? Okay.”

Before waiting for a reply, Leo quickly stands from his seat and makes a start towards the direction he came from. But he doesn’t get too far before a weak grasp settles on his forearm.

“Wait a moment.”

Leo stops. Slowly he turns around. The old lady stares at him, and a nondescript look in her eyes as he studies him diligently. Leo waits, and after a while she moves her hand from his forearm to his hand, holding it closer to her to drop a tiny packet.

“Sorry I could not finish your fortune for you. Take this as a consolation. I hope it helps you with whatever it is that troubles your heart.”

Curious, Leo takes the packet, face contorted with confusion.

“A tea bag?”

Baba gives a tired and weary laugh. Not letting go of his hand just yet, she adds.

“Yes, I have an affinity for tea. That tea bag is my apology for having upset you. I hope it’s special properties help you.”

“It’s . . . special?”

“Of course, it’s tea that is made from a rare flower, the Blue Spider Lily. While its cousin, the Red Spider Lily is poisonous, the Blue Spider Lily offers healing. I do not know if it actually works, but I hope you find use for it.”

With nothing more to say, Leo takes the tea bag. Baba bows respectfully, returns to her quiet stand, and Leo walks away, mind lost in his racing thoughts.

In the back of his mind, he wonders if he’s walking in the right direction, but his mind is too muddled with too much at once, that Leo doesn’t care where his feet carry him. 

He is also too distracted to hear the racing footsteps that approach closer and closer, before an angry yell from a certain eldest brother snaps Leo out of his dark thoughts. 

“Leo!”

* * *

Harsh, rugged gasps echo throughout the stone walls, the thundering of feet smacking against concrete.

"If we," Raph takes a sudden breath through his mouth in a fight for oxygen, "get in trouble for this, I'm so not taking the blame for you."

Silence is his only answer, as Leo is far from in the mood to counter his big brother's blame game. No one says anything about his unusual lack of response, too busy racing back home before their curfew is broken. After Raph had all but berated Leo for ditching them without saying anything, leaving his brothers floundering as to whether Leo was abducted or actually stupid enough to leave them, their time had been getting uncomfortably too close to their limit.

And Leo couldn’t portal them home. By now, Leo has figured out that his portals only function properly when he clears his mind.

An impossible task after that train-wreck of a fortune telling.

Which leaves them with the only option of running back home, using Donnie’s coordinates to find the closest mystic portal that can get them to the surface.

And they all make it back at home, somehow just beating Donnie’s ETA. Splinter is waiting for them in the atrium, impatiently sitting in his recliner with his arms crossed, as the brothers tumble in from the entrance. He gives them a moment to collect themselves, and they all sit before him, giving him cheeky smiles.

“How was your evening?” He narrows his eyes, singling out Raph in his gaze. Out of all his sons, his oldest is the first to break under pressure. “I take it you all listened well?”

Raph gives a nervous chuckle, sweating heavily as everyone else gives him pointed glares. “Of course! Not a rule broken tonight, especially not one about splitting up or anything like that.”

Splinter stares long and hard, but missing the quick elbow jab the middle brothers give to the eldest. What seems like forever, with Raph nearly about to break, Splinter finally gives an approving nod.

"Good! I am proud of you boys. I shall turn in early then. The TV room is all yours."

Fist-bumping the air with several shouts of victory, and having gotten away scot-free, the brothers grab their father in an enormous group hug. Giving him their good nights, Splinter retires for the evening, leaving the boys with smug relief.

That leaves them a whole movie night to watch whatever they want. Not wasting any time, they set out to the family room, Mikey and Leo making a stop at the kitchen to prepare drinks and snacks while Raph and Donnie set the movie up.

As Mikey leans against the counter watching popcorn pop in the microwave, Leo grabs several bottled soda and canned fizzy water from the fridge as well as filling his arms full of bags of chips. Making his way out of the kitchen, he pauses before the kitchen opening, eyeing an empty tea mug their father must have left out as he waited for them to get home.

He could make that tea the old lady gave him.

Setting his goodies back down on the counter, Mikey gives him a curious glance, Leo opens the cupboard to grab a mug, the words "No Pants are the Best Pants" written in large, bolded print.

Baba had said it healed the heart. He doesn’t really know what that means, but from his own experience with tea, it might help with the leftover anxiety still lurking in his stomach.

Decision made, Leo fumbles in his pouch for the tiny packet. He turns it over in his hand, searching for instructions, but there's a lack of words, so Leo shrugs and prepares it like he would with any of his tea. Heating up the teapot, Leo waits patiently for the water to boil before pouring it into his mug, dropping the bag with a tiny plunk.

Mikey shares some of his load, and his older brothers have already set up the movie room, playing an unfamiliar movie from the projector, so he must have missed his brother's massive argument on what movie to watch and they decided to watch something new.

Leo situates himself between Raph and Mikey, squeezing between them as they grunt and groan in annoyance. He places the food and drinks in the middle of the floor where everyone is within reaching distance.

Raph and Donnie still squabble between the beginning credits, still apparently not over whatever argument they had earlier. 

Leo takes a sip of his tea, tentatively tasting to see if it had cooled, and is shocked by the unique, but delightful, taste that spreads throughout his taste buds. Sweet and bitter, with a minty aftertaste. 

"What blend is that?" Mikey whispers, quiet to not disturb anyone.

"Umm… it's a new one I'm trying out?" Leo shrugs off. No need to mention that it’s a mystic tea.

Mikey doesn’t suspect anything, and hums after he takes a deep breath of air. "Smells nice."

They turn their attention back to the movie. Leo has never heard of this movie before now, but he’s glad to watch something different for a change. It’s about giant robots fighting even more giant monsters to save humanity, and he can see how Raph and Donnie’s compromise was a movie about cool robots and monsters that closely resemble dinosaurs.

It’s definitely not on par with, say, a Jupiter Jim or Lou Jitsu film, but the beginning of the movie succeeds in emotionally gripping them with the death of the main character’s brother, so Leo leans contentedly back to watch how the plot unfolds.

Or he would have, if his stomach hadn’t decided to rebel after he had finished all of his tea. They’re only finished with the first act of the movie when the cramps come on, and he tries to tough it out, wrapping his arms around his middle to distract himself from the pain. He keeps quiet, biting his lip to stop from muttering any noise. Raph is clearly invested, his eyes wide and reflecting the light from the movie. Mikey and Donnie are also very quiet, with Mikey only hushing out short gasps during moments of tension. It’s when the heroes are about to face the final villain that Leo has reached his limit, desperately wanting to curl up in his bed and pass out from the discomfort he is feeling right now.

"I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight."

That breaks his brothers’ deep concentration, each one of them facing him with varying levels of astonishment. 

"What? But we haven't even gotten to the best part yet."

With their eyes on him, Leo worries they can see his ill appearance even with the only light coming from the movie. He doesn’t want to worry them, unnecessarily, having done enough of that today, so he downplays it.

"I think the tea might be kicking in."

Raph raises an eyebrow; Leo’s tea has rarely worked to fix his sleep despite all the times he has draken it.

"Are you feeling okay, bud?"

Leo appreciates Raph’s concern, and his disconcerting ability to see right through him, but honestly Leo just wants to ignore that this day has ever happened, and he can’t do that with his big brother hovering over him.

"Yes, of course. I'm always fine."

Before his brothers can ask him more questions (and before he throws up), Leo gives a quick good night and leaves his brothers to stare after his departing form.

Once, he’s certain he is out of view, Leo grabs onto the wall for support, wrapping his free arm around his stomach as his knees begin to tremble. All he has to do is make it to his room. With a goal in mind, Leo takes short steps to his bedroom, focusing on his unsteady breathing.

He whips his curtain harshly aside, tripping and catching himself on the edge of his bed. His body is shaking from exertion, and Leo just now notices that his whole body feels like it is on fire. He has never experienced this type of pain before in his life, and Leo is greatly tempted to go back to his brothers, but he’s already made it to his bed, and he knows that his legs are too weak now to carry him anyways, so he resigns himself to waiting it out until morning.

He pulls himself into his bed with shaking arms, collapsing on top and curling in on himself. He grabs a blanket pushed between the wall and his bed and wraps himself deeply into it. 

Focusing on his breathing, Leo tries to distract himself from the pain burning and coursing through his body. Distracts himself from the dark thoughts that still plague the back of his mind.

He falls asleep shortly after, his last thought being, everything will be better in the morning.

* * *

Raph stumbles into the kitchen, sleepy from a long night. After Leo had turned in early, the rest of the brothers finished the climax of the movie, crying tears of excitement and joy when the two heroes had come out on top, all the monsters having been slain and defeated for good. With the adrenaline still running fervently after such a rollercoaster of a movie, another was planned in hopes to kill off some steam before the rest of them also headed to bed.

Mikey is making breakfast (and from the smell of it, Raph recognizes the sweet scent of sugar and blueberries, so definitely blueberry pancakes) while Donnie smirks at Raph, not bothering to look up from his phone screen. 

"Sleep well last night?"

Raph rolls his eyes in response. He can’t help it when he falls asleep during movies.

"Har har," Raph leans his elbows on the counter, watching Mikey finish the last batch of pancakes. 

"That smells amazing, Mikey!"

Mikey puffs his chest out, "You bet it’s gonna taste even better!"

Raph can already feel his mouth pooling with drool, and his brothers can too if the looks they give him are anything to go by.

"Where's Leo? He's gonna miss breakfast."

"Why? Do we need to warn him that you’re gonna eat it all, like last time?"

Raph frowns, "No! He's just usually up by now."

"He did go to bed early." Donnie adds.

"He didn't look so good either," Raph leans his cheek against his palm. "Do you think he's sick?"

Donnie ponders that for a moment, looking up from his phone screen to read Raph’s expression, then replies with, "It's too early for Rat Flu."

"I don’t think it’s Rat Flu, he wasn’t showing any signs of it.” Raph worries the bottom of his lip with his snaggletooth. “Well, I'm gonna go check on him." Raph pushes himself away from the counter, throwing over his shoulder a warning, "And there better be pancakes left when me and Leo get back!"

Mikey and Donnie respond with shouts of agreement, so Raph makes his way to Leo’s room without any fear of missing Mikey’s famous pancakes.

Leo's room is dark and quiet when he enters, so he concludes that his younger brother must still be asleep. He notices the lump on the bed, and approaches to shake Leo awake. When he places his hand on the lump, his hand seems larger than it normally is, nearly encompassing half of the mound.

It’s small.

Like really small.

Leo is not one to sleep in his shell, which makes Raph wonder if his brother is so ill that he drew himself into his shell in an attempt to hide from his discomfort. There are few times when everyone but Mikey has reverted into their shells, and when it didn’t involve playing pins, it wasn’t good.

"Hey, buddy?" Raph gently whispers, shaking with his hand the bundle to rouse his brother. With no response, he pulls the blanket away, which falls to the ground in a heap.

Raph stares, mouth agape and body frozen.

That's not his brother.

Well, it is. It’s just a tinier version of him.

The toddler looks up to him, sleep smothering his eyes. He wipes at his eyes with tiny fists, then he peers up at the large form before him. There’s a long silence between them, toddler and giant snapping turtle taking in each other’s presence. Raph struggles to find his voice, lost in his throat from the sight of a familiar and tiny turtle before him, but when he does find his voice, he asks in a small voice, “Leo?”

And that’s when the toddler bursts into tears.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think? I'm still a little new to this, so I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew with writing a long multi-fic like this. 
> 
> If anyone is curious or wondering how my progress is going with this baby, you can go ahead and message or ask me on tumblr. I have no life outside of work and my puppy, so go crazy! (And I might just be saying this so that people will talk to me hhahha). I'm also not happy with this chapter at all, so I might do some editing in the morning, we'll see.
> 
> ok, bye now~


End file.
